Welcome to the third of our exclusive "Fearsome Fridays" at Back To Frank Black!

Every Friday at 8pm EST we will be airing Season One of Millennium Apocalypse for your viewing pleasure, and to prepare you for Season Two later this year!

Millennium Apocalypse was created by Jason Morris of In Pieces Productions and stars Shoni Alysse-Cook as an adult Jordan Black, sucked back into the horrific legacy left by the Millennium Group and coming terms with her "gifts". This independent film project was - unsurprisingly - inspired by Millennium, Jason being a big fan. If you missed our recent podcast with Jason, please check it out after you've watched the episode!

For each episode of the first season, Jason and Shoni have recorded a special introduction. This short introduction from the MA team is exclusive to Back to Frank Black.

It will come to no surprise that Jason is a big believer in the return of Millennium and has been actively supporting us in trying to bring Frank Black back!

So sit back and enjoy Episode Three of Season One of Millennium Apocalypse!

Quote: “Been sitting here trying to prepare myself for whatever happens... That’s the Black family: try to anticipate the future so you don’t have to dwell on the past.” --Thomas Black

Overview: Since viewers were first introduced to Frank Black in Millennium’s pilot episode, his disturbing visions have become progressively more complex with each passing installment, each harrowing murder investigation. With cryptic connections mounting as the series neared the climax of its first season, it seemed that the mythology building up around the profiler’s visionary talents would soon take us well beyond mere investigative insights. In “Sacrament,” Frank Spotnitz begins to pull at loose threads left dangling from “Pilot” and “Dead Letters,” not to unravel the unfinished tapestry of Millennium but so that he may tie these threads neatly together in preparation for the epic dramas to come.

“Sacrament” stands as a milestone in that it is the first episode to openly suggest that there is an extraordinary inheritance possessed by Jordan Black. This is revealed subtly yet irrefutably in a pair of scenes that would put any concerned parent on alert. With tears in her eyes and anguish in her voice, Jordan expresses concern over the abuse being inflicted on her aunt, in spite of the fact that the child is undoubtedly being shielded from the horrors traumatizing her family. At the moment Helen Black is kidnapped, Jordan bears witness to the brutal abduction, seeing the events remotely from the sanctity of the vacant church. (The only alternative reading to this scene is the even more dramatic suggestion that Jordan is observing traumas to come, prophetically anticipating the terrible fate that awaits her Aunt Helen.) The unavoidable implication is that Jordan is witnessing great violence with her mind’s eye--in precisely the same fashion as her father.

With its emphasis on family, “Sacrament” is able to quietly reinforce the great bond between this loving father and his beloved child, a connection that has resonated with viewers since Lance Henriksen and Brittany Tiplady first shared the screen. Indeed, our sense of their relationship is only strengthened by the presence of Thomas Black, a shaken and confused man who simply cannot relate to his stoic older brother. The episode’s memorable final shot--in which Frank takes Jordan aside, separate from the rest of the family, and the two walk away hand-in-hand--is so symbolic, so evocative that it would be echoed throughout the rest of the series. This lasting image leaves us with an affecting impression of the bond that connects Frank Black to his exceptional daughter, the sort of bond that can exist only between two kindred souls who share the same gift, the same curse. Theirs is the relationship that will prove to be the very core of Millennium’s unfolding mythology.

Connections: Following her ordeal at the church, Jordan Black is afflicted by a mysterious fever, the very same symptom for which she was hospitalized in “Pilot.” Jordan’s gift for prophetic visions was first hinted at, somewhat obliquely, in a nightmare seen in “Dead Letters.”

Today sees the long-awaited and much-anticipated release of Mark Snow’s 4-disc soundtrack of his score from the television series run of The X-Files — filled with a wealth of never-before released material — by La La Land Records. Clocking in at a massive running time of 311 minutes, it contains music from "Pilot” all the way up to the series finale “The Truth” with many much lauded stops along the way, including a personal — and fan — favourite in “Scully’s Serenade” from the beginning of Season Eight. Full tracklisting and details on how to order are available at La La Land Records’ product listing. The release is limited to 3,000 copies, retails for the very reasonable price of $49.98 and, as if that were not enough, early orders will be autographed by Mark Snow whilst supplies last.

And just take a look at that photo. Not only will this set boast over 5 hours of blissful music from across all nine seasons of the series but it is a thing of beauty, with much care having gone into its design. It also comes with an extensive booklet which includes the article “There’s Something Out There — The Meeting of Mythology and Music in The X-Files” by film music journalist Randall D. Larson. It’s an absolute must-have for fans of Mark’s highly influential music, which was of course also such a pivotal piece of the jigsaw in the style and tone of Millennium. And not only is this the most definitive release of music from The X-Files to date, but it is tantalisingly subtitled Volume I, hinting at the possibility of more releases in the future. In fact, plans are already afoot to release Volume II next year.

Rest assured I will be ordering a copy the very moment it comes on sale, and I urge you all to do the same since — just like the superb Millennium 2-disc set that came before it — this title will undoubtedly sell out fast.

The week-long event was a huge success with a wealth of material celebrating Lance’s long and varied career to date being blogged, and John rounded it all off with a special thankyou on his blog to all the contributors. What we wanted to do here at Back to Frank Black, though, was to highlight the wealth of Millennium-related material that showcased how alive support for the series still is, and point you back to some of the highlights in case you shamefully missed any of them.

Others joined the fray too. Jane Considine wrote about Season One’s “The Well-Worn Lock” and told of how she is “mesmerised by Frank Black”. And an extensive and carefully considered article over at Musings of a Sci-Fi Fanatic reminds us how “Henriksen’s approach is subtle, restrained, complex and vulnerable, the necessities required for the mood and depth of Chris Carter’s Millennium and such an extraordinary human character”. The same blog followed that epic with a reminder of some of the striking visual imagery of Season One.

Back to Frank Black’s voice was also in evidence throughout the week. James wrote a personal piece about Lance, reflecting upon his portrayal of Frank as “deeply, tragically human, filled with uncertainty, hope and love”, whilst Troy also talked of his personal friendship with Lance and summed him up as “The Essence of Excellence”. Meanwhile my regular column What the Killer Seesinverted its usual format in order to examine Frank’s transformation in the episode “The Beginning and the End” and Lance's finely nuanced handling of the role to ensure that the audience “continue to want to follow this complex hero on his journey through the dark”. It was a wonderful week and we’re just proud to have been a small part of it.